


fall festivities

by jcreaus



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F, Happy Halloween!, That's it honestly, emily is the best mom, family fall fluff, fluff!, jj is too, they love their boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27305638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcreaus/pseuds/jcreaus
Summary: jj and emily take the boys to a kid-friendly farm that hosts a fall festival every october.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Kudos: 65





	fall festivities

Jennifer Jareau gazed out of the window, admiring the vibrant hues of the trees that lined the side of the highway. It was autumn, undoubtedly her favorite season, because of the endless activities she could do with her family and the breathtaking views of the changing leaves everywhere she looked. Halloween was also just around the corner, so carved pumpkins, inflatable ghosts, and fake spider webs decorated the outsides of almost every home in her neighborhood.

The weather in D.C. was perfect during this time of year. It was cold enough that she could get away with wearing heavier clothing, but not too cold that she dreaded being outside. It rained almost every other day, which definitely sucked, but every once in a while, the sun shined, and it _almost_ felt like summer again. Today was one of those days. The air was crisp, a slight cool breeze present now that it was getting later into the fall season, but it was balanced out perfectly by the glowing rays of the sun.

“Mom?” Henry’s small voice called out from the backseat. He waited for his mother to respond, not wanting to interrupt whatever she was thinking about. Her body twisted in his direction, and Henry took that as his cue to continue. “Is it too early for Christmas music?” Obviously her answer was going to be yes, Henry knew that, but he also knew about the soft spot the women sitting in the front seat had for him.

The eyeroll that came as a response was definitely involuntary, Jennifer’s subconscious knowing exactly what he would request if her answer was yes. She was still facing Henry, but shifted in her seat so that she could look at her girlfriend. Bright blue eyes scanned the side profile of the woman driving, knowing all too well what she was thinking just by the amused look on her face.

“What do you think Em?”

Emily Prentiss couldn’t help but chuckle. She was expecting Henry to ask, so it was only a matter of time before her SUV was completely engulfed with his favorite holiday music. Which, of course, was the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album. You know, the ones with the high-pitched voices. Henry was lucky Emily loved him as much as she did.

“I think,” the brunette drawled out for dramatic effect, “that it’s _never_ too early for Christmas music.” The slight grin on Emily’s face turned into a full-blown smile when she heard Henry’s excited “yes!” at her answer. “Jayje, will you plug my phone in?” Emily’s eyes shined as JJ let out a playful groan, and soon enough, the (very annoying) music started playing through the speakers. 

Michael, who was also a pretty big fan of the squeaky tunes, stirred in his car seat at the very first note of the album. He had been asleep for the first half of the drive, still having been drowsy from the nap he was awoken from before they left. His car seat faced the rear of the car, but a small mirror was placed on the headrest in front of him so JJ could keep an eye on him while Emily drove. Michael noticed his mother looking at him through the mirror and let out a giggle and something that sounded _almost_ like ‘mama’. He was still working on that word.

As Jingle Bells turned into It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas, the blonde adjusted in her seat again, this time so that one leg was tucked up to her chest and her left hand was holding Emily’s right. The earsplitting musical notes drowned out her contented sigh as she settled back into her seat, and she chuckled lightly to herself that not even high-pitched chipmunks could ruin how peaceful she felt.

Emily subtly eyed the blonde sitting next to her, never fully taking her eyes off of the road. It was obvious to her that the tranquility on her girlfriend’s face stemmed from pure love for the people in the car, and she felt lucky to be one of them. The brunette squeezed Jennifer’s left hand gently, and then let go so she could use both hands to turn the steering wheel.

“Are we here?” Henry called from the backseat as he felt the car come to a stop. Sure enough, when he peaked out of the windshield, he could just barely make out the tall sign next to the entrance. _Parker Farms_ , he read to himself, smiling once it sunk in that they finally made it to his favorite place.

Parker Farms was a recreational spot in Maryland, about an hour away from their home in D.C. It was a family-friendly farm that hosted a fall festival every October, and JJ had been taking Henry to it since he was a baby. Emily joined in on the tradition last year just after Michael was born, and the family decided that they wanted to go together every year after that.

“We made it kiddos,” Emily announced as she put the gearshift in park.

Jennifer gave the woman to her left a soft smile before opening the door and stepping out into the fall air. It wasn’t _that_ cold, but habit had her wrapping either side of her grey cardigan tightly around her waist in order to preserve some body heat. She pulled open the passenger-side rear door and leaned in, so she was face-to-face with a slobbering Michael. The little boy giggled as his mother called out a gentle “boo” after swinging the door open.

On the other side of the car, Emily’s heeled boots hit the gravel of the parking lot as she carefully shut the door behind her. She shimmied a little to fit between her car and the car next to them, the other person having parked over the line like a total ass. The brunette tugged at Henry’s door, allowing the eight-year-old to leap out of the SUV and onto the ground. Emily adjusted his flannel and ruffled his hair before moving to the back of the car to pop the trunk.

Once the green diaper bag was out of the trunk and slung around Emily’s shoulder, she grabbed Henry’s hand and headed in the direction of the entrance. Her girlfriend followed, with a sleepy Michael propped on her hip.

The booth at the entrance housed a woman wearing a red polo with the Parker Farms logo on it. She quickly scanned Emily’s phone that displayed their already-purchased tickets, and handed her four wristbands. The brunette grabbed them with a quick “thank you” and ushered Henry to step to the side so she could help everyone put their wristband on. She started with Henry, the excitement basically oozing out of him at that point. The boy stayed put as Emily reached for Michael, gently pulling his sleeve up in order to place the wristband on his tiny arm. Emily helped JJ next, the pair sharing a look of “what have we gotten ourselves into” as Henry squealed the moment he caught sight of the large stack of pumpkins just beyond the entrance.

The blonde handed Michael off to Emily, taking the final wristband out of her hand so she could put it on the older woman. Once it was secured, she motioned to take Michael back, assuming Emily wouldn’t want to carry a sleepy toddler, but the brunette shook her head. “It’s okay,” Emily said through a smile that reached her usually dark eyes, “I got him.”

“Mommy _please_ can we go in now?” Henry really didn’t mean to sound rude, but the attractions sprawled out in front of him were making him just a little impatient. JJ let out a laugh and gently pushed on his back to let him know that it was _finally_ time to have fun. Henry didn’t even think twice before darting toward the path that laid in front of them, realizing almost immediately that he wasn’t supposed to run off on his own when strangers were around. His pace slowed, but he continued to lead the way along the path of kid-friendly attractions.

A few feet behind Henry, Emily strolled with Michael balanced on her right hip. His head rested in the crook of her neck, making his still-exhausted state apparent. JJ walked next to her, never letting herself get too far away from the other woman. They were talking about some event for work they had coming up, the brunette paying extra attention to the volume of her voice, not wanting to startle Michael.

Their conversation turned into comfortable silence as they watched Henry’s head turn quickly from left to right as he took in all of the games and activities around them. The first few attractions they had walked by were definitely designed for children younger than Henry, but the bigger ones in the back caught his eye. A giant bouncing pillow sat just beyond the small playground a couple of yards ahead of them, and he _had_ to go on it.

Jennifer knew by the expression of pure excitement on Henry’s face that he saw something that he wanted to do, so she nodded for him to go along. “We’ll catch up to you in a minute,” the blonde called out as her son ran toward the back of the farm. She was enjoying their slow pace, and certainly was not in any rush to get to the area of screaming kids.

“That bench over there is calling our names, huh Michael?” Emily playfully asked the little boy in her arms, hoping that maybe he would perk up at the tone of her voice. He didn’t, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he was on his feet and running in every direction. The three of them huddled together on the chilly metal seat. Emily held Michael close to her chest and Jennifer was pressed into her side, the older woman wanting to shield them from the light breeze that was getting colder as the day went on. The blonde looped her arm under Emily’s free one, and they sat together for a few minutes, watching Henry skip around with a couple of other kids on the blue pillow.

A fence was placed on three sides of the jumping pillow, probably to keep kids from wandering too far off, but it also served as a way to keep animals inside the small petting zoo to their right. The enclosure was small, housing only a few baby goats and some bunnies, but it caught Michael’s eye as he peaked over Emily’s shoulder. The little boy sat up, practically coming to life as he heard the goat make a “baa” noise. He smiled brightly when he remembered all three members of his family making the same noise while trying to teach him the different sounds that animals make. Michael leaned away from Emily so he could see her face, smiling widely as he mimicked the “baa” sound that he had just heard.

“Good job Mikey,” Jennifer said through a gasp as she brought her hands together to clap for the toddler. She watched the boy wiggle out of Emily’s arms, dropping softly onto the ground and making his way over to the wire fence. The blonde stood and held out her hand for Emily to take, not wanting to chase after their crazy one-year-old alone. JJ helped the older woman stand, and soon enough they were jogging after Michael, who was sticking his tiny hand through the holes in the fence.

“The sign says that her name is Daisy,” Emily informed Michael as he pointed to the only grey goat in the enclosure. There was a small box of grain mounted on the fence that visitors could give to the animals, so Emily grabbed a handful and placed it in the palm of Michael’s hand. Jennifer was crouched next to them, which allowed her to guide Michael’s full hand to Daisy, who now had her nose stuck through an opening in the enclosure.

Henry was still jumping on the pillow, admittingly getting tired of it after a while. He heard his brother giggle from a few yards away, and looked up to find a goat eating out of his small hand. The eight-year-old hopped down onto the grass and hurried over to where his family was. Henry grabbed some hay that was placed in a box adjacent to the one with grain, and gave half to Michael to feed to the small bunny that had made its way over to them as well.

The four of them crowded around the small opening in the fence for what felt like forever, feeding every single bunny and goat in the pen. Daisy and the other two goats refused to leave Michael alone once he fed each of them, and Henry sat on the grass next to one of the rabbits so he could reach through the fence to give her hay. Jennifer and Emily sat with the boys, handing Michael more grain when he let out a squeaky and adorably mispronounced “peeease!” and watching Henry interact lovingly with the bunnies.

It didn’t take long for Michael to lose interest in that activity, suddenly rising to his feet and padding over to the dirt path. Henry jogged after his brother, and the two women followed suit. They strolled a few feet behind Henry and Michael, letting the older boy show the toddler around the place that he had always loved. Emily took JJ’s hand and tangled their fingers together. The four of them continued on like that for about an hour, Michael running towards anything and everything that caught his eye, Henry tailing him, making sure he was never alone, and the older women watching adoringly from a distance.

It was getting close to dinnertime, and Emily knew her girlfriend would want to be home before it got dark out. The small family had covered the entire farm already, leaving pumpkin picking for last. “Hey Henry,” Emily called out to the small blonde, “we need to pick some pumpkins to carve next weekend.”

Jennifer held an exhausted Michael close to her chest, her cardigan wrapped tightly around his back to keep the both of them warm. She let the brunette run ahead with their eight-year-old, remembering how much they bonded over finding the most perfect pumpkins last year. The pair scanned the endless rows of pumpkins, and Henry held up every other one he saw, checking for Emily’s approval.

“Wait!” Henry shouted more to himself than to anyone else. “I think,” he paused to let out a grunt as he lifted a bright orange pumpkin by its stem, “this one is perfect for carving.” He let it hit his chest, using pretty much his entire body to hold the pumpkin up to show Emily.

The brunette squinted her eyes at the pumpkin and waited for Henry to waddle over to her, exaggerating her facial features to make it seem like she was carefully evaluating whether or not it was _actually_ perfect. Her eyebrows furrowed dramatically, but she broke into a smile once Henry was laughing at her antics. Emily ruffled his hair and took the pumpkin from him, balancing it on her thigh.

“Mike’s _humongous_ eyeball could go right here,” Emily pointed to the middle of the pumpkin with her index finger. Henry was going through a bit of a Monsters, Inc. phase, wanting the movie to be playing pretty much 24/7. Emily had always loved the movie, and was actually the one that showed it to Henry when he was a toddler, so this year, they were carving Mike Wazowski and Sully onto their pumpkins.

Henry’s face lit up at the image and ran to grab a wagon from where they were stationed, wheeling it over to the small pile of pumpkins sitting at Emily’s feet. They had picked out one big pumpkin for each of them, and then half a dozen mini ones because Emily claimed that they were “ _so_ adorable”. JJ rolled her eyes at that, but of course agreed to bring them all home if it meant making her children (yes, including Emily) happy.

Once Henry seemed satisfied with their selection of pumpkins, the family headed back to the car. Michael was sound asleep on Jennifer’s chest, soft snores escaping his mouth every few seconds. Henry dragged the full wagon behind him, insisting that he was strong enough to lug the whole thing across the farm and to the parking lot. Emily walked by his side and listened to him ramble on about the way he wanted to set up their “super cool” pumpkins on their front porch. He suggested purchasing blue and green tea candles to put into their Mike and Sully pumpkins, and Emily gasped at how brilliant the idea was.

JJ smiled as she watched Emily use her entire upper body to describe something she wanted to paint onto one of the smaller pumpkins, laughing to herself because she was in love with a woman that acted more like a child than her actual children did. To be fair, though, that was the side of Emily she fell in love with. The goofy, carefree side that shined through whenever the four of them were together. She was so beyond grateful for her little family, and she knew Emily was too. Emily had always wanted to be a mother, and JJ told her early on that she could imagine it clear as day, but never in a million years did she think they would be here, years later, raising her two sons together. _Their_ two sons.

“Jen?” The brunette had glanced over her shoulder to make sure the younger woman was still behind them. Emily was met with glistening blue eyes, and a smile that emanated as much warmth as the sun had earlier. She gave her a knowing look, feeling just as awestruck at their current situation. Pure adoration was the only way to describe how JJ was looking at Emily, and the brunette mirrored it almost instantly. _God_ she loved that woman and the beautiful family they shared.

**Author's Note:**

> happy halloween everyone! be safe and have fun!
> 
> i hope you have a good day/night :)


End file.
